Yama Rising

Chapter 60: Soul Hunter (2)

His eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Just two more… Of the ten vengeful apparitions that I’ve painstakingly nurtured, I’m only left with two of them!

And now, it was almost as though he had just returned to square one.

I’m obviously already letting you off the hook by ordering a ceasefire. Shouldn’t you be stopping to thank your lucky stars instead? Shouldn’t you be thanking the heavens that you’re still alive, before running off as far as you can?

Have you ever considered my feelings?!

The fourth hunting zone had been broken.

Dead silence.

Seconds later, Cao Youdao’s infuriated bellow echoed throughout the entire room, “Ungrateful bastard!!”

“Emissaries of Hell and mortal men can never tread the same path in life. Haven’t your mentors taught you about these things?!”

Qin Ye was completely oblivious to Cao Youdao’s venomous curses.

Cao Youdao had undoubtedly achieved his goal of testing the depths of the mortal realm’s might. That said, he had also paid an incredibly hefty price for this - one that was completely out of proportion to what he had gained!

The backstory to this was one that was also quite well known. Ten years ago, the mother-in-law of the former CEO of Target Incorporated fell seriously ill, and the CEO sold off his company in order to save her life. His wife’s family was thereby greatly indebted to him. Two years later, the CEO got into an accident which resulted in the amputation of his legs, rendering him wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. Tragically, his wife ended up cheating on him, while his parents-in-law began to vie over his assets.

He loved smoking, especially the Jade Rivulet brand of cigarettes. Rumours had it that he had actually encountered a stranger on the fateful day of his death. He had intended to ask the stranger to wheel him to help him up. Unfortunately, the stranger immediately ran away. His final words were, “Do you have a lighter?”

The man was severely obese, and his entire body was soaking wet. However, Qin Ye knew better. This was not plain obesity - it was swelling and bloatedness.

He could even see muddy waters from the river coming out of the man’s ears. The man was seated right in front of the river at Riverside Park.

“You… shouldn’t… have… responded…” The man’s head swivelled 180 degrees around in a stiff and mechanical fashion. His eyes had already become replaced by two deep, dark orifices, while the flesh on his face had ostensibly been nibbled away by the fish in the river, revealing his grisly white bones underneath. With a miserable scream, his tongue lashed straight out for Qin Ye’s heart like a slithering snake.

With a ferocious swing of his saber, Qin Ye cleaved the flailing tongue and the disgusting bloated head of the man cleanly in half.

Qin Ye’s proof of identity flew out and glowed with a trace of golden hue. The words on it were no longer written in black. Instead, it was written in scarlet red.

“Currently accumulated: 200 merit points. Total points required for promotion to the Soul Hunter rank: 0 merit points.”

Name: Qin Ye (Nickname - Dogballs)

Family Members: Grandfather (deceased), Parents (deceased)

Duration: 84 days, 3 hours

“Haa-....” Qin Ye heaved a sigh of relief. The long arduous night was finally drawing close to its end.

Just then, even before he could finish his train of thoughts, his Hell’s Emissary Uniform suddenly began to flutter on its own, and the Yin energy that was stored in his body began to roil vigorously. It even made soft gurgling sounds on its own.

He suddenly discovered that the blood in his body was actually vaporizing on its own!

Over and above all that, an incredible might that was beyond what he had ever imagined was possible threatened to explode from within. He endured, and endured, until finally, he could endure no longer!

Bzzzzt… All of the Yin spirits in the city froze, and then turned to face the direction where Riverside Park was located. Their eyes were filled with horror and bewilderment.

It bore supreme authority over the Yin spirits, and suppressed them on a qualitative level. Even though the Yin spirits were all young ghosts, they nevertheless felt as though, right in front of them, a massive gateway that stood as tall as the heavens and was enshrouded with Yin energy was slowly being opened.

“Sss… sss sss!!!” Cao Youdao’s only remaining hunting zone was also located in the north of the city. At this very moment, the vengeful apparition that looked like a middle-aged person subconsciously let out a terrified scream. And then… he prostrated himself in the direction of Riverside Park.

North of the city, along the food street.

Hundreds - perhaps even thousands - of Yin spirits carried their red lanterns as they continued to batter against the barrier of copper coins in front of them. Countless Yin spirits had already been felled this way, yet the backlines of the Yin army just kept pouring in. They were relentless.

“There’s no backup!!” The commanding officer grabbed a crossbow and rushed to the forefront of battle and yelled, “Comrades, when you’re defending the city, I want you to remember that your family and your loved ones who are suffering from this supernatural upheaval are being protected in a similar fashion right now!”

“We shall stubbornly hold our ground here until reinforcements arrive. Retreat is out of the question! Fire!!”

And he was not the only one. Practically everyone froze at the same time and stared blankly at the sea of Yin spirits. The Yin spirits had suddenly ceased their onslaught!

A Soul Hunter had just been ordained. On the other hand, Cao Youdao was not a genuine Soul Hunter! The Yin spirits naturally experienced an innate deference to the authority of the genuine Soul Hunter!

The Soul Hunter who had just appeared was their one true lord.

Within ten seconds, the Yin spirits that had been charging madly at the garrison of soldiers just seconds ago were suddenly kneeling down and paying their respects to their new master.

He was pointing out the obvious.

A Yin flower had appeared in the sky. The Yin petals congealed together to form a massive black spider lily stretching twenty meters up and spanning fifty meters across. Its illusory leaves and branches were even extending out of the flower across the Riverside Park.

However, he was already late to the party.

“Hmm?” Then, just as he was about to make his move, he suddenly froze and looked to the north of the city with disbelief, “This is…”

“Is a ghost actually breaking through to the Soul Hunter rank right now? Could this be the head honcho of the City of Salvation personally making a move?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately darted into his designated vehicle and commanded the driver, “Pronto! Head to the north of the city! Inform all cultivators to gather there right now!”

The one who was most astonished was naturally the person located within the Orchid Clubhouse underneath the Insignia University - Cao Youdao.

He had noticed it as soon as Qin Ye’s Yin energy erupted uncontrollably. That said, his first thought was - What’s this? That’s impossible. That’s absolutely impossible! The world is deceiving me!

“This… this is impossible…” His hands trembled uncontrollably as he habitually reached for his wine glass, only to discover that there was nothing around him.

Thus, when he motioned to pick up his wine glass, he found absolutely nothing.

“I refuse to believe this… It’s a lie! It has to be a lie!!”

In fact, his release of the Yin spirits for surveillance tonight was built on a single presupposition.

But reality had given him a huge slap to the face.

Seconds later, he pulled back his hand with an ancient manuscript in his grasp. He opened it like a fanatic, only to be struck senseless by reality.

Not even his own name was written in Hell’s Records.

“I’m not here… but you are?!!!” He rubbed furiously at Qin Ye’s name, attempting to erase it from Hell’s records. But no matter how hard he tried, the manuscript wasn’t damaged in the slightest.

He understood everything.

As soon as Qin Ye became a Soul Hunter, the first thing he would do is to come for his own life!

This was a battle among the Emissaries of Hell after all.

He would be waiting patiently for the arrival of his nemesis!